1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a surgical instrument and, more specifically, to a surgical instrument for clamping, cutting, and/or joining tissue.
2. Background of Related Art
Certain surgical stapling instruments are used for applying rows of staples through compressed living tissue. These surgical stapling instruments are employed, for example, for fastening tissue or organs prior to transection or resection or during anastomoses. In some cases, these surgical stapling instruments are utilized for occluding organs in thoracic and abdominal procedures.
Typically, such surgical stapling instruments include an anvil assembly, a cartridge assembly for supporting an array of surgical staples, an approximation mechanism for approximating the cartridge and anvil assemblies, and a firing mechanism for ejecting the surgical staples from the cartridge assembly.
In use, a surgeon initially advances an alignment pin assembly and subsequently approximates the anvil and cartridge assemblies. Next, the surgeon can fire the instrument to the instrument to place staples in tissue. Optionally, the surgeon may use the same instrument or a separate device to cut the tissue adjacent or between the row(s) of staples.